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Youth Entrepreneurship Forum - StartUp 2015

Bulgaria, Varna, hotel "Cherno more"

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ABOUT YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP FORUM – STARTUP 2015

Youth Entrepreneurship Forum – StartUp 2015 is an international event focusing on entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs who are eager and curious to know more about starting a company. The goal of the conference is to encourage innovative and creative thinking and to foster an environment where participants can share their personal experiences and best practices. Youth Entrepreneurship Forum – StartUp 2015 is carried out in partnership with the Municipality of Varna (European Youth Capital 2017). 30 StartUp projects will be accepted through our Application form. From them, 10 StartUp project will be short listed and asked to participate in the forum. The successful candidates will have a chance to pitch their startups, have strategic 1 on 1 meetings and most importantly will have the opportunity to get mentoring with angel investors and some of the bigest startup accelerators and venture capital funds in Europe and North America.

Youth Entrepreneurship Forum – StartUp 2015 will be the first startup event in Europe without an entry fee because we believe that anyone who really wants to push forward their company or idea should have a supportive environment to do so. The event is open for a select group of 200 – 250 people by personal invitation only. The key criteria for acceptance to the forum is either an active business or business idea or the personal motivation and desire to be an entrepreneur.

Guest speakers & Investors

Jonathan Bixby

Active angel investor, Executive Director at Growlab [CA]

28-29 april 2015

18:00

…

Jonathan currently invests out of both Stanley Park Ventures and Oak Mason Investments. Jonathan is a founder and on the Board of Advisors of HIGHLINE.VC a VC backed Co-Venture Platform with programming in four cities (Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco, New York) and powered by some of Canada’s best entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem partners. HIGHLINE is a merger of GrowLab and Extreme Startups. Jonathan was the Executive Director of GrowLab before merging with Extreme Startups. Jonathan Bixby was the CEO and a co-founder of Strangeloop Networks, creator of the first network appliance and cloud service for accelerating dynamic web applications. The Strangeloop Site Optimizer dramatically increases the performance of revenue generating websites, allowing for faster page loads, higher conversion and revenue. Under Jonathan’s leadership, Strangeloop raised over $21M in financing, including a Series A round of $11.5 million, one of the largest rounds of private Series A financing for a technology start-up in Canadian history. Strangeloop was selected the Best Employer in British Columbia for a record five straight years (2008 to 2013).

Marc Wesselink

Serial Entrepreneur, started 12 companies in FMCG, Home Electronics, Healthcare, E-Commerce, HR and Finance. Because of this, he has an in depth knowledge on many fields which can help entrepreneurs to maintain a 360 degree view on their business. He is a motivator, business coach, critical optimist. With his skills and experience, he is currently in charge of selecting Startups for the Accelerator programs in Amsterdam and helping the alumni from Startupbootcamp Amsterdam with the execution of their business. He is also co-founder of Startupbootcamp Africa with programs in Johannesburg & Cape Town.With his entrepreneurial experience, Mark advises managers and entrepreneurs to let their company grow faster and helps them establish a solid infrastructure. After founding and having bootstrapped 12 companies and failed 4 times, he is definitely an experienced entrepreneur with an international focus. After interviewing hundreds of startups as Selection & Alumni Manager at Startupbootcamp, he went on to co-found Startupbootcamp Africa.

Mike Doherty

Program Manager at Angelsbootcamp [DE]

28-29 april 2015

hour

…

Mike works with a full range of clients from Berlin Start-Ups in Silicon Allee to international firms seeking to do business in either Berlin or San Francisco. Mike has also a background in investment, having been a director at Third Coast Capital, a venture lending organization that committed more than $125 million in venture debt investments. Mike was one of the first employees when Third Coast was established in 1996 with an initial investment by Cargill, Inc., the largest privately-held company in the United States at that time

Hristo Stoyanov

Regional Mandate Manager at European Investment Fund

28-29 april 2015

18:00

………..

Hristo Stoyanov manages the business development activities in Bulgaria of the European Investment Fund. He joined the EIF office in Sofia as mandate manager in 2011 responsible for the operations of a Bulgarian holding fund providing EU Structural Funds through SME-focused financial instruments including guarantees, start-up accelerators and venture capital. He is member of the Board of Directors of JEREMIE Bulgaria – company, acting as an umbrella fund with diversified portfolio of private equity funds and risk-sharing commitments to local credit institutions.
Prior to joining the EIF, Hristo managed M&A advisory projects at Forem Consulting in Sofia. He holds a MBA degree from University of Notre Dame in the USA.

Todor Breshkov

Partner Manager at LAUNCHub [BG]

28-29 april 2015

18:00

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From 2012 Todor Breshkov manages the cee’d investments fund LAUNCHub, of which he is also a co-founder and actively works with portfolio companies from the selection process to the acquisition of shares and subsequent consultation and development of individual businesses. He also participates in subsequent attraction of investors for companies and their preparation for implementation of the next round of funding. From 2003 to 2010 he has been a member of the Supervisory Board of the third largest bank in Bulgaria (First Investment Bank). From 2003 to 2009 Todor is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange-Sofia and CEO of one of the largest brokerage houses in Bulgaria – First Financial Brokerage House. Todor is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the largest Bulgarian Real Estate Fund from 2005 until today.

Pavel Ezekiev

Partner at NEVEQ

28-29 april 2015

18:00

………..

Pavel Ezekiev has a degree in “Finance” in the US. From 2002 to 2004 he was Executive Director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency. For four years he worked in the “Investment Banking” department at Deutsche Bank in London as a senior specialist in corporate finance. In 2006, heads the new Bulgarian office of the bank. In 2007, he left to take over the management of venture investment fund NEVEQ (New European Venture Equity). He is co-founder and managing partner of the fund.

Dilyan Dimitrov

co-founder at Eleven Accelerator Venture Fund

28-29 april 2015

18:00

………..

Dilyan Dimitrov is a co-founder at Eleven Accelerator Venture Fund

GALIN DIMITROV

Founder of amam.bg atol.bg sibir.bg elmaz.com

28-29 april 2015

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Galin Dimitrov is the founder of Kagami Ltd – Trade and service of computers, computer components and printing devices. He is the founder of the web sites amam.bg , atol.bg , sibir.bg , elmaz.com